By Punch N. Judy
BaseballBigMouth.com baseball news

By throwing caution to the wind – not to mention a few bucks - the Detroit Tigers are blazing a trail to fiscal responsibility that will one day be the model in which every organization strives to emulate.

The four year, $7 million dollar pact Rick Porcello signed - made official yesterday – assures the Tigers of another valuable power arm that will require minimal seasoning before joining a Tigers rotation that seems to get richer by the month. When an organization lucks out and wrangles a star of this magnitude, the front office generally talks about how a talent this special only comes around once every 25 years or so. Let’s see with Jeremy Bonderman, Justin Verlander, Joel Zumaya, Andrew Miller, and now Porcello, the Tigers are stocking arms faster than the cold war Pentagon.

While Bud Selig does a slow burn at Detroit’s snubbing of his draft slotting system, the rest of Baseball will be following closely the long and short term success of a plan that locks up top talent that frugal teams like Kansas City pass on early in the draft. When you get down to it, can you imagine rooting for the Royals, a franchise that would let LeBron like talent fly off their radar for the sake of a few million dollars that at the end of day is free money made off the luxury tax cheque that is mailed to them each year courtesy of the George Steinbrenner’s of the world. It’s disgraceful really.

When Tiger owner Mike Ilitch began stockpiling European hockey players in the late eighties it led to unprecedented success for his Red Wings, and eventually the NHL as a whole. It enabled the Wings to become players in any trade discussion, while feeding its roster a steady diet of top drawer talent. Soon, the rest of the league took its cue and began extensively scouting and signing players from Russia, Slovakia and all points in between. Unlike today, the NHL was a free market void of a salary cap and restrictions regarding the earning potential of its rookies. In such a market it’s kill or be killed and while the Tigers may be taking a huge gamble by throwing millions at a kid who’s never pitched in the Bigs, it’s a one shot deal really.

When you consider what the Red Sox paid Dice K, and the Yankees Kei Igawa, not to mention Carl Pavano and countless others, it makes sound business sense to pay for what a player can do for you in the future and not what he has done for someone else in the past.

The Jeff Pearlman book, The Bad Guys Won, sure didn’t make me find the love I had lost for the Mets, a rogue group of bandits that extended the Red Sox curse to 68 years at the time. From Gary Carter being revealed as a self-promoting, me-first jerk, to Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry showing early glimpses of the cocaine abuse that would haunt them both to this day, it was an enjoyable read that was hard to put down.

A few highlights
 - Would you believe it was front office personnel in those days that supplied a bowl of amphetamines in the clubhouse and encouraged most everyone to imbibe.

- New commissioner Peter Ueberroth made the princely sum of $200,000 dollars his first year in office. Bud Selig now pulls down $14.2 million. Gulp.

- When Davey Johnson phoned Sparky Anderson hoping to get a feel for Howard Johnson, the Tiger skipper revealed that he thought Hojo to be a bit of a nervous Nellie who may choke in the clutch. This unraveled the mystery of who Sparky was referring to in his book after the Roar of 84.’ That said, Walt Terrell for Hojo was still a bad trade for Detroit.

- Ray Knight was a former Gold Glove boxer who after one brawl in which he cleaned house that season, was approached by an autograph seeking Mike Tyson.

Clown of the Week – Jose Offerman. The man who believe it or not was signed  to replace Mo Vaughn in Boston, did the unthinkable yesterday when he charged the mound -  bat in hand -  after being struck with a pitch. After nearly taking the pitchers head off and subsequently striking the catcher in the process during this minor league tilt, Offerman was booked for assault with a weapon and may be looking at some serious jail time.

Quote of the Week – “Love me, hate me, I don’t give a f***.”  A quote that would become the partial title for a Jeff Pearlman book on Home Run King Barry Bonds.

Editor’s note - Baseball and Eggs will appear every Thursday, and serves as a form of self–therapy for this clinically insane baseball fan. The baseball part is self–explanatory. The eggs however, could pertain to just about anything on Punch’s mind from Thursday to Thursday.

CLICK HERE for BaseballBigMouth’s tribute to the great Ty Cobb

CLICK HERE for a rare glimpse at Ty Cobb - playing for Cleveland?!?

By Punch N. Judy
BaseballBigMouth.com baseball news 

It took a disgruntled rogue and a Mt. Everest of circumstantial evidence to expose Major League Baseball and the people who cover it for what they are: Hypocrites.

When Jose Canseco first went public with his memoirs, many tried to dismiss the former self-professed “Godfather of Steroids” as some sort of bitter dolt with little credibility. Some of those fingered in the book “Juiced” even threatened litigation. Those threats however rang hollow when several ex teammates – most notably good guy Dave Stewart – vouched for Canseco’s honesty as his only endearing trait.

The fallout from the Barry Bonds march to glory has been a mixed bag of faint praise, honest admiration and wouldn’t you know it, catcalls from the nation’s foremost authority – sports columnists.

The Greatest Hitter of  em’ all Ted Williams used to refer to the media as the Knights of the Keyboard with much derision. The Kid never met a writer he liked, much less trusted, and often lamented that they were nothing more than front runners. If pushed or caught in the wrong mood, Williams would many times speak of Red Sox fans in the same vain. And you know what? As usual, Teddy Ballgame was way ahead of his time.

You see after watching, listening and reading about baseball for the last 30 years, I’ve come to the realization that those who do it for a living are no more knowledgeable than me. In fact, in the case of a guy like Mitch Albom, who rarely even watches baseball, I’d like to think I have a little bit more on the ball. Mr. Bonds got it wrong when he called Bob Costas – a real fan by the way – “a midget who knew nothing about baseball.” That midget actually lives right here in Detroit, Mich. Problem is, after scoring his own talk show, several book deals – many that have nothing to do with his area of expertise – and acclaim as an award winning columnist, Albom, like his fellow national cronies Jon Sarceno and Mike Lupica, have the casual fan’s ear.

When they talk about moral high ground and that cheaters should never prosper, the good folks who buy newspapers sip their morning coffee and agree in unison. Little do they know that these same writers would have to be blind, deaf and dumb to not see the drug use unfolding before their eyes.

I don’t know about you, but when a guy shows up to spring training with 30 brand spanking new pounds of muscle, a red flag creeps up the figurative pole in my conscience. Problem is, in the good ole USA, any story that would remotely accuse a player of wrong doing would be greeted with a libel suit quicker than you can say the word syringe.

This is a reality I can understand. It’s the notion that performance enhancing drugs, or any other kind of drug for that matter, is some sort of new evil that both the media and professional sports owners themselves can’t believe exists within their little world. On the contrary, both sides of this coin know where the bodies are buried. If they don’t, I have the sneaking suspicion – based on Commissioner Bud Selig’s expression when Barry tied the record – that when George Mitchell’s investigation is said and done, a new era of accountability may take hold.

A book by Jeff Pearlman  - The Bad Guys Won – that recounts the Mets and their 86′  World Series season has shed some new light on the drug culture that pervaded Baseball in the cocaine infested era of the 80’s. Look for some interesting tidbits later in the week when I complete the book. By the way, you may remember Pearlman for the piece he wrote on John Rocker for Sports Illustrated.

What’s my take on the new Home Run King? Well to tell you the truth I didn’t even catch the highlight. I was away for that day and night and other than catching the Tigers nail-biter over the D-Rays I didn’t give it a thought. The media coverage, the negativity of it all, ruined it for me. Something did however put my feelings in perspective when I opened up today’s Detroit Free Press. Motown’s Holy Trinity of Al Kaline, Ernie Harwell, and Tiger skipper Jim Leyland all paid homage to the new King with nary a hint of doubt as to his worthiness.

Clown of the Week – Eric Gagne, Boston Red Sox. On a segment of the Best Damn Sports Show, Gagne glowingly spoke of the joy at being traded to a first class World Series contender like the Red Sox. What Gagne failed to mention is that it took Boston ponying up an additional $2.5million dollars this season to consummate the deal. The money apparently represented the incentive that was supposed to kick in had Gagne saved 15 more games this season for the Rangers. The big Canadian was flanked by closer Jonathon Papplebon who went on and on about the sacrifice Gagne was making by becoming Boston’s new bridge to the ninth inning. Ahhh, peeuuke!!!

Quote of the Week – “We were throwbacks man. We were like “gimme a steak, gimme a f***in’ beer, gimme a smoke and get the f*** out of our way.” – Mets pitcher Bobby Ojeda on the World Champion 86’Mets.

Editor’s note - Baseball and Eggs will appear every Thursday, and serves as a form of self–therapy for this clinically insane baseball fan. The baseball part is self–explanatory. The eggs however, could pertain to just about anything on Punch’s mind from Thursday to Thursday.

CLICK HERE to read what Baseball Big Mouth thinks of Tony “The Town Drunk” LaRussa

CLICK HERE to read about Boras’ proposed Best-of-Nine World Series

CLICK HERE to read about former Detroit Tiger/New York Yankee Cecil Fielder’s latest gig

CLICK HERE to read what Baseball Big Mouth’s really thinks about ESPN’s Joe Morgan

Far be it from The Heckler to go off on a rant . . . actually, that’s probably what you do expect, no? So why not, says I! Today’s topic: Kids collecting baseball cards and other memorabilia! The Heckler doesn’t want to come off like a cranky old(er) man, but — no lie — when I was kid, not once did I ever think of collecting something in order to make money. Rubber bands held my baseball card collection together, and my baseball sticker books were pasted full of — gasp! — stickers! Nowadays, I bet children would sooner keep the stickers separate from the book as opposed to actually using them. I mean, for the few that still collect baseball cards, I’m sure plastic sheets are just par for the course now. And that’s a shame.

For a trip down memory lane, check out this classic commercial for Panini Baseball Stickers. I still have about four of these albums from my youth. Not all compete, but I still have’em. Nothing like getting a gold-foil All-Star sticker! Ah, memories . . .  enjoy.

Did you ever collect these sticker books? Do you think something so quant could hold the attention of today’s easily-bored youngsters? Is the sticker book a product of a bygone era? Let me know by leaving a comment! Thanks for visiting BaseballBigMouth.com.